Slip and Slide
by Omnicat
Summary: "Now, now, my love," Nakia said, gliding to a stop in an elegant arc around his head. Her grin looked big enough to hurt. "You'll never make it to your imaginary Winter Olympics for the superhumanly enhanced with that attitude."


**Title:** Slip and Slide

 **Author:** Omnicat

 **Spoilers & Desirable Foreknowledge:** Marvel Studios' _Captain America: Civil War_ and _Black Panther_.

 **Warnings:** None.

 **Characters & Relationships:** T'Challa x Nakia & Shuri

 **Summary:** "Now, now, my love," Nakia said, gliding to a stop in an elegant arc around his head. Her grin looked big enough to hurt. "You'll never make it to your imaginary Winter Olympics for the superhumanly enhanced with that attitude." **/ 973 words**

 **Author's Note:** Written for Sholio in the 2018 Trick or Treat Exchange on AO3. Enjoy!

 **II-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-I-oOo-I-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-II**

 **Slip and Slide**

For the he-wasn't-counting-so-he-had-no-idea-how-manyeth time, T'Challa's leg slipped away from his body and ruined his balance, sending him sprawling out on his back on the ice. Laughter rang out before he even had the chance to say, "Ow! Damn it!"

"Now, now, my love," Nakia said, gliding to a stop in an elegant arc around his head. Her grin looked big enough to hurt. "You'll never make it to your imaginary Winter Olympics for the superhumanly enhanced with that attitude."

T'Challa threw his hands up in the air. "This should be easy!"

"It _is_ easy. Look."

Nakia backed away with a single, simple movement of her feet, spread her arms, and began circling him – backwards.

"Show-off," he muttered, fighting the twitch in the corner of his mouth.

The problem, he figured, was that he was spoiled. He hadn't dealt with a slippery surface without shoes especially designed to deal with them in, what, years? He was woefully out of practice when it came to sliding, let alone gliding, was all.

Yes, that was it. Too princely to succeed: a novel and delightfully dignity-saving twist.

"Come on, brother, get up, or I'll send this video to Everett Ross!" said one of the main sources of his spoiled-ness.

"Why would you do that?" he wondered aloud.

"He sent me cat videos that reminded him of you once. I would simply be returning the favor."

"Unbelievable," he said, finally raising himself up on his elbows.

Shuri grinned around the straw in her drink. She had mag-floated a fold-up chair, a small juice bar, and a garishly bright parasol down from the palace, just to drive the point home that _she_ was lounging in the Wakandan sun on the grass like a reasonable person while _they_ were bundled up in their warmest traveling clothes inside a temperature-regulating force field, trying to teach themselves ice skating from scratch. Enabler and peanut gallery all in one. Typical.

"I can show you the videos he sent. _Spot on,_ " she said.

"Not that," he grunted, stiffly working up to a sitting position. "The disrespect I am subjected to. As your king –"

"It is your duty to set an example, isn't it?" Nakia interrupted. "Get up, my love. Who will represent us in the men's divisions if you fail, huh? M'Baku?"

T'Challa eyed the edge of their artificial ice rink and contemplated his options for reaching it. "He doesn't even _want_ to go, he's no competition of mine."

Nakia sailed through his field of vision again, as steady and smooth as if she were born on skates. He didn't catch her expression, but the teasing note in her voice was unmistakable.

"Hmm, he could be, though. He's surprisingly graceful and lithe for such a bulky man."

Laughing, T'Challa rolled onto his back once again, curled his legs up above his chest, and braced his arms and core muscles. "Nope!" he said, and vaulted upward and forward. He landed on his feet, alright – and in the same movement, his momentum combined with his utter lack of traction pitched him forward.

"Oof!" he and Nakia said in tandem, bodies colliding as she rushed into his trajectory.

For an extended series of moments, they grappled with their respective gravitational forces, limbs jerking and bodies swaying. But she caught his weight and even had enough equilibrium left to keep her dashing rescue from turning into a mutual embarrassment.

Laughing again, he released his death grip on her elbows to cup her cheeks in mittened hands. "My hero."

Nakia rolled her eyes and shook her head, lips pursed in a poor attempt to contain her amusement. "You're welcome."

"Although..." Shuri mused. "If we did convince M'Baku that Wakanda should be competing, he might show us those natural ski slopes and ice rinks he's surely hiding up there in the mountains."

"And rob you of the opportunity to outdo nature itself? I would never," T'Challa said.

"Been there, done that. You're standing on it!"

"Exactly. Excuses, excuses," Nakia said. She raised her hand and pressed a single finger into T'Challa's chest. On the ice, it was enough to get him moving. He kept his balance this time, though. Just barely.

" _How_ are you so much better at this than I am?" he finally found the will to ask. His ego might bruise a bit if the answer wasn't something along the lines of 'I have months or years of practice', but even his own patience for such nonsense was not infinite. "Not that I'm not impressed and... enchanted..."

"Eww. She cheated and looked up instruction videos on the internet beforehand, you know," Shuri said, unnecessarily loudly.

"True, but that does not make me not a natural talent as well," Nakia replied. She took no heed of Shuri's exaggerated distaste and, grabbing the lapels of T'Challa's coat, gently began tugging him to the edge of the ice.

"Show me your secrets then, be –" He wobbled dangerously. Back to holding himself up by Nakia's elbows it was, then. "– beloved." But he did spare one hand to quickly and blindly point in Shuri's general direction. "And you. Delete that footage."

Shuri stood, set down her empty glass, and stretched.

"Sure," she said, turning around and walking away from the obviously inevitable. Then she whispered: "Just as soon as I'm done with it."

His head shot up. "I heard that!"

Cackling, his little sister broke out in a run.

"Let her have her fun," Nakia said with a playful shove. They'd reached the grass, and T'Challa felt instantly better as he got to plant one be-skated foot firmly in the grass.

With a dramatic sigh, he said: "I have a reputation to uphold, that's all."

"Your secrets are safe with me. And Shuri. And even Ross. Now get back on that ice or admit defeat and kiss me."

T'Challa grinned and kissed her.


End file.
